Author Olivia Boler

writing is fun
January 25th, 2012 by Olivia Boler

A typo already??? Uploaded to Smashwords today!

Drum roll please…So, I just uploaded the novel to Smashwords this morning. I should shout hurray, right? Not so fast.

First, I’m not providing a link to the book (although if you go to Smashwords and search Olivia Boler or The Flower Bowl Spell, you’ll find it) because I immediately found a glaring typo in the dedication—a period next to a comma [.,] that is not in the original document I uploaded. What the what??? There’s another huge typo at the very end in the title, About the Aauthor. Yes, it reads “Aauthor” on my eBook files but again, NOT on my original document. I haven’t gone over the whole thing with a fine-tooth comb, so I shudder to think what I’ll find inside the doc once I do.

[NOTE: I am adding this paragraph after I initially published this post, but don't want to bug you all unnecessarily with a whole new post. I figured it out! Before you submit your Word document to Smashwords, you need to ACCEPT ALL CHANGES in the document! This is very, very important, otherwise, typos you think are fixed (even after you've hit SAVE) might show up in the eBook files Smashwords creates!]

Also, I am waiting to hear back from Smashwords about my “Premium status” in their catalog. that could take a week or two. I’ll keep you all posted.

But typos are the least of my problems right now. I am trying to revamp my website, oliviaboler.com, on my own. Let me just say, I am not a web master. Ha! That’s certainly clear, since my already long neglected, decrepit website has completely disappear. Which is why, again, I am not linking it up here. I have lost hours since last night trying to figure it out on my own, the whole FTP, PHP, blah blah blah. Oh, these are the times independently publishing is so daunting, and I wish some kindly editor had just taken on my book and dealt with all this minutiae herself.

OK. Got to call tech support, get groceries, and upload to Amazon. What are you doing today?

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 6 Comments »

January 24th, 2012 by Olivia Boler

Olivia Boler gets a 7×7 Link Award nomination. Yay!

The 7×7 Link Award

I am happy to tell you, fellow bloggers, that my little blog that could has been nominated for a 7×7 Link Award (apparently not related to 7×7 Magazine). Thank you, The Flying Yenta, for this exciting nomination!  And I love your blog, too!

So, there are three requirements of the award, and here they are along with my fulfillment of them:

I. Share something about yourself that others don’t know.

Man, this is hard. I have so many personal secrets…just kidding. Not really. Um, something you don’t know that I’m not too embarrassed to share. Well, if you know me, you know that I am half-Chinese. If you don’t know me, then you think I’m “Mediterranean” or Latina or Jewish or Native American, etc. But no, I’m Chinese. My father’s Caucasian genes (mostly Austrian and maybe Italian with some English, Irish, and French) just really dominate. And here’s a bonus share: Even though it’s so uncool to do in my PC San Francisco community of foodies, etc., I sometimes take my kids to McDonald’s. Gasp! What can I say? I love me some french fries!

II. Link seven posts from your blog that you think are worthy.

1. The Scary Next Step

2. Can you feel the excitement???

3. The nit and grit of indie publishing—edit, draw, format, shoot

4. Getting down to the funky business of writing

5. Reading your stories aloud is a good thing

6. So, Olivia, what do you write?

7. Flower Bowl Spell cover revealed!

III. Nominate seven other bloggers that deserve the award and haven’t received it yet.

(Note: I’m not sure if these blogs have or haven’t been nominated. If they have, then they are surely deserving of a repeat nomination.)

1. Kana’s Chronicles —  Kana Tyler is “a writer, an explorer, a coffee-drinker, a recovering addict, a barefoot linguist, a book-dragon (“bookworm” doesn’t cover it), a raconteur, a minister, a sailboat skipper, a research diver, a tattooed scholar, a pirate, a poet, a spiritual adventurer, a photographer, a cartographer, a joyful wife, a mom (and Granny), an island-girl at heart… A list-maker! :) ” And she’s generous with her freelance writing tips. Thank you!

2. Olivia Everett — The blog of Karla Mouncey-Jaggers who is writing a series about Olivia Everett, “as she fights her way tooth and nail through the vampire politics that saturate London.” What fun!

3. Peter Denton — Pete is a writer chronicling his creative writing progress, which is so inspiring!

4. Making Baby Grand, the Novel — The blog of Dina Santorelli, who gives us regular writing tips as well as super-duper helpful and fun debut novelist interviews. I love it.

5. Sue Healy — She had loads of success with her writing in 2011, and she has writing advice and wisdom we can all use. Excellent stuff.

6. The Bird Sisters — The blog of author Rebecca Rasmussen, whose debut novel, The Bird Sisters is a soaring achievement (pardon the pun!). Read it!

7. Siobhan Fallon — Of course I have to include Siobhan Fallon, one of my bestest writing friends (and just plain old friends) whose debut short story collection You Know When the Men Are Gone, published by Amy Einhorn Books (of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help fame) is taking the critical world by storm making major “Best of 2011″ lists left and right. So go buy it now!

Yay, recognition! It’s good to know I’m not writing into a black hole. Thank you, blogging community!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 7 Comments »

January 13th, 2012 by Olivia Boler

That Scary Next Step

So, here’s my progress report on releasing my novel into the world, like a baby bird that has just learned to fly:

  • I have gone through all of my copy editor’s edits.
  • I have the cover.
  • My sister-in-law/photographer sent me a link to the photos she took, and out of 58, I have to narrow it down to 5 (so far, I like more than that).
  • I need to write my acknowledgments page—and have someone proofread it (and make sure that someone is included).

Then it’s time to upload it! I’ve only read through the Smashwords style guide once, and I’ve barely glanced at Amazon’s, so those are two major tasks that need doing.

This might be a good time to mention that I’m quietly freaking out a little bit here. I’m like that. I’m not one of those people who says, “OK, my ducks are in a row, so let’s take that next step!” and then goes ahead and does it. I hem. I haw. I ask the question, “Are you sure the ducks are in a row? Maybe they need a little adjustment? Perhaps they aren’t lined up precisely so?” And I don’t actually do anything about rectifying this. Not right away. Instead, I run errands, do chores, take on a freelance project, write a blog entry, read a book, or watch TV. (In my defense, some of these things need to get done!) Because the moment for taking that next step doesn’t feel…quite right. To be more frank, it’s scary. When I send my baby bird (or duck) out into the world, it’s all on me whether it flies or falls (that is to say, has a major typo, formats weirdly, etc.). Such is the nature of indie publishing. I know what I need to do. I just. Have. To. Do. It.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 12 Comments »

January 2nd, 2012 by Olivia Boler

Of books and puppies

Happy New Year, people! Okay, it’s January 2, but it’s still a new year, and better late than not at all. Yesterday, I was busy cuddling up to my friend’s new puppies, Jem and Scout, who are adorable mini Goldendoodles, and here’s a heartstring-tugging picture of them:

Jem and Scout, photo courtesy of Theresa H.

Are you totally melting? Believe me, they are just as adorable as they look.

As you literary types know, Jem and Scout are characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, brother and sister, and Scout is the narrator. This is one of my favorite novels, so in honor of Harper Lee (and all of you who named your children after the esteemed authoress), I’m sharing a list of the books I read in 2011. I started keeping track of what I read each year about 10 years ago, when friends kept asking me to recommend books and I could not readily recall any titles off the top of my noggin. My mother-in-law also inspired me to try completing a book a week, for she sets herself the goal of reading 52 books a year. I’ve never reached that, although I came closer than I have since first having kids, reading 38 books last year.

I do wonder if my Kindle and e-reading programs on my iPad, iPhone, and computer have something to do with this. I’m certainly not less busy than I was in 2010, when I read 27 books. Far from it. A writing colleague, Claire Light, mentioned on her blog that reading on the Kindle had increased her speed of reading by about 100 percent, if my memory serves. And if you check out her blog, you’ll see her 2011 reading list reaches 130! How would reading on these electronic devices help? I’m guessing it’s their portability, or the fact that when I check out e-books from the library I have to get them back in 3 weeks. What do you think? Has e-reading made you a faster reader?

OK, here’s my list:

  1. *Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
  2. Matched by Ally Condie
  3. *The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
  4. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
  5. *Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
  6. Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
  7. Evermore by Alyson Noël
  8. *Refresh, Refresh by Benjamin Percy
  9. Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willett
  10. The Matchmakers by Jennifer Colgan
  11. *The Genius in Children by Rick Ackerly
  12. †Octavia Boulevard by Yvonne Daley
  13. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
  14. *The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen
  15. *I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson
  16. †Family Poems by Larry Beresford
  17. If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This by Robin Black
  18. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
  19. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
  20. Switched by Amanda Hocking
  21. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
  22. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
  23. Torn by Amanda Hocking
  24. *One Day by David Nicholls
  25. *State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
  26. The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer
  27. The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher
  28. †It Only Happens Now and Then… by Mary P. Hamilton
  29. *A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
  30. †Roads Without Hills by Charles McKinnon
  31. *†Damascus by Joshua Mohr
  32. Ascend by Amanda Hocking
  33. *The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
  34. *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
  35. †Count Edweird Lefang’s Rhymin’ Halloween by Eddie Morales
  36. †Cold Comfort by Ellis Vidler
  37. Sleeping With Paris by Juliette Sobanet
  38. *You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

* Olivia’s Favorites  † Read for a review or article

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 4 Comments »

December 25th, 2011 by Olivia Boler

A Life-changing Book Review of Cold Comfort by Ellis Vidler

Here is my holiday gift to you, dear blogging friends: a book review!

Typically, I write book reviews for pay, but for this one, my reimbursement is the thrill of possibly winning a new Kindle e-reader. Even if I don’t win the Echelon Press contest, I will be victorious nonetheless, because I really enjoyed reading Cold Comfort, which is marketed as a romance and suspense, but really, the romantic elements are sort of incidental, IMHO. The story is a thriller that centers on a perfectly ordinary woman, Claire Spencer, who runs a Christmas tchotchke store (hey, how about a little holiday reading material, right?)  and is being targeted for murder. Through a friend, she enlists the help of Ben Riley, a broad-chested ex-Navy man who seems to have endless governmental connections and manly man talents for getting out of dicey situations. He carries a Glock, so that tells you a lot, but he also paints moving seascapes and is haunted by the memories of the clients he hasn’t been able to save.

The story is told from both Claire’s and Riley’s 3rd-person points of view, and the author, Ellis Vidler, does an excellent job of distinguishing their voices. Claire is a no-nonsense lady and Riley is really a dude’s dude. Out of curiosity, I looked up Vidler on Smashwords just to find out if the author was a man or a woman, because I just wasn’t sure, and that is a very good thing (I will let you discover the answer for yourself). The story hits the ground running so to speak, with Claire attacked in the driveway of her Williamsburg, Virginia, home within the first few paragraphs. Who is after her? She’s a nobody. Or is she? The mystery spins along at a fairly speedy clip with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, and anxiously swiping those digital pages to the very end. Borrowing from Goodreads rating system, I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

And with that, to all a good night.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | No Comments »

December 21st, 2011 by Olivia Boler

Flower Bowl Spell cover revealed!

Isn’t that just always the way? You finally get some down time, and then that cold you’ve been fighting decides to jump on your back and give it all its got. So, even though I just got my edits from my talented and hard-working copy editor this morning, I can’t dive right in. The cold doesn’t help and the down time is fast disappearing. There are kids at home on winter break, relatives to visit, freelance work, holiday gifts to be wrapped (we observe Christmas, although in a secular way. My 6-year-old has been asking about the meaning behind it all, so I gave her a rundown of pagan winter solstice coupled with the birth of Jesus Christ. She absolutely loves Jesus now and weeps when she thinks of him dying on the cross.)

Anyway, I did get some beautiful cover designs from Fena, my cover artist, and this is the one I decided on after getting opinions from a few close friends who are familiar with the story:

The book centers on a magickal urban witch (yes, I opted for the “k” in magick to distinguish it from magician magic, at least in my mind) and fairies, and Fena really captured that without being cheesy. No, it’s not a young-adult novel or written for children, although I think there is definite crossover appeal with the former.

I also created a Facebook Author Page, so be sure to “like” it, and please spread the word! I’ll put writerly updates and thoughts there. I also need to set aside a day to revamp my website. I actually want to start using WordPress to build it and need to find a day to give myself a crash course in doing that.

That’s all for now. Happy holidays!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 5 Comments »

December 14th, 2011 by Olivia Boler

Can you feel the excitement???

I’m waiting for my sister-in-law Andrea to show up and take my author photo, and thought I’d check in since I’ve got all this pent-up nervous energy. I’m not crazy about gettin’ my picture took, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. And Andrea will make me look decent. Hey, I even got my hair cut yesterday, which came with the usual lecture on using a good conditioner (yes, I only go to the salon about two times a year, which is partly why I haven’t found a permanent stylist—I’m too embarrassed by my split ends).

So, my manuscript is with my copy editor, hurray! I worked on it over a few days, and decided to format it for Smashwords first. I did the best I could, but got hung up on details like using page breaks or not, and whether to put the acknowledgments (still drafting that) at the beginning or end. Really, quite dull. But oh so very important! I’ll worry about KDP and CreateSpace later.

Another option I found out about while lurking on the Kindle Boards (really, I should just go ahead and officially join), is PubIt, which is Barnes & Nobles’ version of KDP. Several authors on the Boards do all four plans (Smashwords, KDP, PubIt, CreateSpace) for each of their books in order to reach as many readers as possible, so I think that’s what I will try. Each one has slightly different formatting requirements, so it will be a lot of busy work, but in the end will save money.

And now the sexy news: I got my book covers! Fena created two beautiful covers, but I’m not quite ready to share them yet because, task master that I am, I’ve requested a few, um, tweaks. She’s really so talented and approachable. When I get that all ironed out, I will debut whichever one is the winner. Or maybe I’ll ask you all for your help.

Also, I’ve been thinking of putting up the prologue to the novel I’m publishing, The Flower Bowl Spell, on this blog. Would that be a fun thing to read?

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 5 Comments »

December 8th, 2011 by Olivia Boler

The nit and grit of indie publishing—edit, draw, format, shoot

Procrastination. There’s always something to procrastinate about. Until this very moment, I was procrastinating about writing a blog entry. But now, in order to procrastinate walking the dog and getting back to my freelance work, I’m logged on and ready to update you, my bloggish friends, about my latest publishing news. Poor dog.

So, I found a copy editor for my manuscript. She’s lovely, a friend of a friend. We live on opposite coasts and have only communicated via email, Facebook, and She Writes, but I have faith in her. I am also excited to see what she’ll do to my book. For my book. My writing friends have read it—some have read several versions of it—but there’s nothing like a fresh pair of eyes, you know? So, I have to send her a final final copy by next Wedensday, and of course I haven’t cracked that baby open in many a moon. But I will because…

I’ve been doing my author-services research! And I know I’d like to get the manuscript in shape for submitting it to Smashwords and Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). For some reason, and I should know this, but have yet to get it straight in my head, I need to do both because Smashwords can convert my book to a format readable on Kindle, it does not deal directly with Amazon. Is that right? If anyone knows, please tell me. I need to get on the Kindle boards and confirm this. I am also going to use CreateSpace to make old-fashioned paper pulpy copies available, and I think that conversion process is a bit less painless, but I could be wrong. I won’t know until I try.

On other fronts, I’ve discovered a cover artist, a teenage girl in Singapore named Fena. You can check out her work on her website. I really like her stuff, and am amazed at her talent. She’s also very sweet. I know this because we’ve communicated via email. Of course, the Internet is bizarre that way. Fena, if you’re out there, could you please confirm you’re not actually a middle-aged man in a Tucson, Arizona, trailer park? Just kidding.

And last but not least, I’m getting a new author photo taken by my wonderful and talented sister-in-law, Andrea Price. Check out her gorgeous wedding photos on her website. She might even help me revamp my old, tired, long neglected website. Which is here, just in case you’re curious.

The dog is chewing on my pant leg. Ta ta for now!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 6 Comments »

November 29th, 2011 by Olivia Boler

Olivia is a Nano Winner!

So, I just reached a wee bit over 50,000 words, which means I am a 2011 Nanowrimo winner. Yay, me!

I still have two key scenes to write. Okay, maybe three. Fifty thousand words just ain’t enough.

In the next day or so, I hope to get back to more blogging with updates on my publishing efforts. And yes, there are so many. It’s a manic, sleep-deprived time, but such is life.

In the meantime, enjoy the end of November and the Nanowrimo craze! If I can do it, so can you!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 4 Comments »

November 18th, 2011 by Olivia Boler

Please pass the chocolate. Now. NOW! Please.

It’s a good news/bad news kind of day, and let’s just say I’m trying to figure out the tone I should take here on this public little blog of mine. I’ve already mentioned that I get a tad, shall we say, sensitive, when it comes to the rejection of my work. I think I’ve been able to mostly work out in private all the usual angst (a taste: feeling like a loser, calling myself a loser, wondering why I have wasted so much of my life, etc., etc.), and am ready to move on (cue the crazy laughter: ha, ha, ha!).

So, the bad news: both ebook publishers I approached back in August, rejected my novel, my precious words! The first gave me a straight form letter, meaning I have no idea why they didn’t want it (Voice in My Head: “Uh, ’cause it sucks?” Shut up!). The second gave me an encouraging form letter of which I will include a bit here:

“Though we aren’t able to accept this manuscript, it is always possible that future manuscripts may find a home with us, and we hope you’ll consider us for future submissions. Additionally, please remember that publishing is quite subjective, and what doesn’t work for one publisher may work for another so we wish you the best of luck in placing this manuscript elsewhere.”

For those of you unfamiliar with rejection, the stuff about the pub biz being subjective is a very standard line and not all that comforting when you’ve read it 100 times. But the first part about how they “hope you’ll consider us for future submissions” doesn’t come up every day. So that’s kind of nice. I guess.

So, yes, it’s time to move on. That means I have to go into “bid’ness” for myself now. Which means I’ve got to roll up those shirtsleeves and pony up the money (“Oh, kids, I’m not sure you’ll be getting Christmas presents this year since Santa has to bankroll Mommy’s publishing dreams!”) and make this book a reality. I have to banish the doubters that live in my head (and outside of my head run all the literary agencies, publishing houses, and contests that have rejected my work—crazy laughter again because there are so many!) and just listen to the nice people (in my head and out) who tell me to keep going. (This is usually the point in the post-rejection processing where I blame my writing friends for not being truthful about my abilities. Why haven’t they ordered me to quit, if not writing than at least trying to publish? OK, now I’m making them angry at me. If they are reading. Sorry, guys! I know you mean well.)

Primal scream time à la Charlie Brown: ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Oh, you’re still reading? Then you probably want to know what the good news is. Well. I have a roof over my head. I have a loving, supportive family. I have my health, such as it is. And I am over halfway done with NaNoWriMo, having clocked in 29,181 words as of yesterday. I guess I’d better get to my 1,667 for today.

And what will I call my publishing company?

Happy Friday, people!

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 6 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »